El arte de la palabra y palabras de arte: Narración, diálogo y descripción en Luciano

Abstract

The association between art and literature can be traced in the history of Western culture since Graeco-Roman Antiquity. In a literary context in which rhetoric plays a predominant role, Lucian of Samosata often appeals to art and its representatives as a metaphor and reference point for rhetors, sophists and writers. The aim of this paper is, first, to review some texts (of different register and intention) in which, using artistic similes and metaphors, Lucian reflects on the technique needed for literary creation, but, above all, on the proper application of the art of speaking; second, to observe how the rhetorical technique which presides over Lucian's production, and which he uses to describe painted images, also guides his talent in narrative or dialogical compositions.